California’s state housing laws are beginning to generate housing, with 20 large proposed or master-planned housing developments across the state representing over 273,000 housing units, demonstrating the state’s efforts to address the housing crisis.
California officials have announced the creation of 267 new affordable permanent supportive housing units across five projects statewide, funded by Proposition 1, a mental health and housing bond measure approved in 2023, with units reserved for veterans and people with behavioral health challenges.
California’s housing reforms are being enforced, with the state using litigation, court orders, and suspension of local land use authority to ensure compliance, as demonstrated by the recent legal victory against Huntington Beach.
California’s freeway expansion has been a major driver of the state’s housing crisis, displacing thousands of families and demolishing homes and businesses, while failing to provide meaningful traffic relief.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom have secured a legal victory requiring the City of Huntington Beach to adopt a compliant housing element within 120 days and limiting the city’s land use authority until it does so.
California’s population has increased slightly in recent years, but the state’s decades-long failure to build enough homes to meet demand has resulted in high rents and prices, making it difficult for people to afford to live in the state.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced over $52 million in federal grants to support local housing, infrastructure and homelessness initiatives, funding 90 projects across 53 counties.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom declared victory after the California Supreme Court declined to hear Huntington Beach’s appeal in a housing lawsuit, leaving intact a lower court ruling that subjects the city to court-ordered remedies for its prolonged refusal to comply with state housing law.
The Housing BOOM Act, proposed by U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, seeks to increase housing production across the country, with a focus on affordable and middle-income housing, by expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, creating new federal programs, and investing in homelessness prevention.
The Upper Westside Specific Plan in Sacramento County is a large-scale housing proposal that has been met with opposition, but is still in the process of being approved and could significantly impact the region’s housing numbers if completed.
YIMBY Law has filed a lawsuit challenging Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order suspending SB 9 in high fire hazard severity zones within the burn areas, arguing that it unlawfully undermines the state’s own housing laws, deepens the housing emergency created by the fires, and gives wealthy jurisdictions improper power to block modest infill housing.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced over $865 million in new housing, transportation, and climate-resilience investments funded by payments from major polluters under California’s cap-and-invest program, which will support thousands of new affordable homes, major green transportation upgrades, and community-level climate resilience projects.
A severe shortage of construction workers is driving the nation’s housing crisis, resulting in an estimated $10.8 billion annual loss linked to delayed projects and homes that never get built, and requiring a national workforce mobilization to address the issue.
Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas has appointed Assemblymember Buffy Wicks to chair a newly created Select Committee on Housing Construction Innovation to examine ways to reduce housing costs, speed construction, and align housing production with the state’s climate goals.
Despite the challenges of the statewide housing mandates, California cities are making progress in increasing housing production, as evidenced by the recent approval of the first project under San José’s new streamlined infill policy and the progress of Fresno’s Southeast Development Area plan.
Montgomery County, Maryland has seen a drastic decrease in multifamily building permits since the adoption of rent control, raising questions about the effectiveness of such policies in increasing housing supply.
By Vanguard Staff SACRAMENTO – The California Civil Rights Department on Wednesday announced a settlement with Pierce…
California’s single-room occupancy housing stock is facing severe financial and physical distress, with most buildings operating at a deficit, many units sitting vacant, and the majority of properties dating back nearly a century.
California Forever is a proposed large-scale housing development in Solano County that has drawn intense criticism and debate over its potential environmental and economic impacts, highlighting the tension between local governance and the state’s housing shortage.
The Vanguard covers housing because it is the root of many of the community’s biggest challenges, such as education, equity, public health, economic inclusion, aging in place, sustainability, transportation, and criminal justice.